Washington Rep. Matt Manweller speaks on the House floor in Olympia in 2015. Manweller, a political science professor, was fired by Central Washington University effective immediately after an outside investigation found he engaged in a pattern of inappropriate behavior with students. (Rachel La Corte / Associated Press)

An investigative report into a Central Washington University professor has found that he engaged "in a pattern of unprofessional and inappropriate behavior" with students and former students.

The professor, who also serves as a Republican representative in the Washington State House, was fired last week.

The Seattle Times reports the 85-page report details interviews with some of Matt Manweller's past students who said that Manweller subjected them to unwelcome attention, unwanted touching and grooming behavior.

His firing last week came as that investigation wrapped up. A political science professor there since 2003, Manweller has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the university and the investigator seeking $2 million in damages.

During Manweller's time there, two prior investigations into allegations against him concluded that there was evidence to suggest he had violated the school's sexual-harassment policy.

In one case, a woman who was a student in 2009 said Manweller touched her leg during a meeting and said "There's always a way for you to get an A in this class." She understood him to mean that a sexual favor could earn her a positive grade. The woman says she immediately dropped Manweller's class. Manweller denied touching the woman's knee and would never have offered a quid pro quo, according to the report.

The report says another former student alleges that in 2006, Manweller asked her to come to his office to discuss the independent study she had signed up to do under his supervision. She said Manweller closed the office door and moved his chair so that he was sitting pretty close to her. She says he told her the sexual energy between the two of them was undeniable and asked about a skirt she had worn to class. She said he old her, "Let's be adults about this" and "we can be discreet." Then, she told investigators, he said "You don't want to write the paper and I don't want to read it," then made what she understood to be a reference to oral sex: He said they could go to a hotel and "discuss it orally."

She told the investigators she was shocked and upset, particularly over his saying she didn't have to write the paper and the allusion to sex. She told her sister at the time and told her mother part of what transpired. But at the university, she reported it only to the department chairman and asked him not to tell anyone else. She told the investigator she did not report it up the chain because the Manweller had promised to write strong letters of recommendation for both her and her boyfriend, and she felt he was using that as leverage over her.

In all, 15 students and former students told investigators of inappropriate behavior by Manweller. The investigator, Trish K. Murphy, wrote that she found them more credible than him, in part because he did not outright deny many of their allegations but gave replies along the lines of "I don't think that happened." Many of the women who claimed he crossed boundaries with them had corroborating information or made contemporaneous reports.

Manweller has been in the Legislature since 2012 representing a district that includes Ellensburg, which is home to the university. He's running for re-election against Democrat Sylvia Hammond in November after a primary in which he led with 63 percent of the vote.

Manweller claims the university's investigation was politically motivated and is accusing the investigator of biased work that sought "whatever possible dirt she could concoct" on him. In a video he posted on Twitter on Wednesday, he also accused officials of targeting him over what he described as "trivial or even nitpicky" allegations.